Audubon County Republican. [volume] (Audubon, Audubon Co., Iowa) 1885-1894, 1887-07-21
MAKING A MAN FIT TO FIGHT.
The Sort OF Work the Great Tom
Crib Was Put TOLLS Monotonous
Dict-Hints for Oarsmen.

There is radical difference between
the new and the old methods
of training men for athletic con-
tests. The change has largely been
made in the past twenty-five years,
and those who have made it declare
that the new way is n vast improve
ment on the old, inasmuch MS it is in
accordance with the latest and best
medical understanding, and enables
man to be brought to the very perfec-
ton of health, strength and endurance
with the least possible strain upon his
system and the minimum of danger to
his stamina.
In nothing is the change more per-
ceptible than in the manner of train
ing pugilists. The old-school fighter
was, as a rule, frcer liver than the
modern type. He fed high when he
could and he drank hard and steadily.
Consequently his system was nominally
gross, and he required good deal of
preparation to fit HIM for long and
arduous contest. There was no four
round "battle" in his day. When he
SHE'D his castor into twenty -four-foot
ring and followed it in person he knew
that there was no leaving that ring I'M
til either he or his competitor was
licked. or until both were so exhausted
that neither could strike a blow.
Prze-lighting was Il serious matter in
those days, and those who engaged in
it made serious preparations for it
or rued their negligence in defeat
Tom Crib trained four months in all
for his second fight with Tom Molly.
neaux, the American sailor darky, and
eleven weeks of this time were spent
on the estates of his patrons, Capt.
Barclay, who was the greatest trainer
of his day and the first man to walk
one thousand miles in one thousand
hours. He reduced Crib from nearly
24O to 1876. and had him so fit and we'll
that it was said that Molyneaux lost
his heart when he saw how perfect was
his condition.
In the old days the first step in train
ing was to physic II man thoroughly.
Blue pills were the favorite medium.
Two, three, or four of them, according
to circumstances, would be admins
tered at night, and next morning
they would be followed by Il
liberal amount of "black draught." This
was largely composed of EPSON salts
and sienna, and such like drastcs. In
special cases this treatment would be
repeated two or three times for week.
and when it was the man generally
wound up at its termination as weak
as n cat. Then he would get light,
nourishing food and but moderate ex-
ercisc until he recuperated. Then, as
now, work and diet were the two great
mediums employed to get Il man to
perfect condition. Much more work
was given them. however. A fighter |
would have to walk ten M les in the
morning. and as much in the after
noon, developed in heavy fanncls and
thick outer clothing, and would have
to run home at the top of his speed.
Then he would be stripped. rubbed
dry With towels, bathed. dried, and
rubbed down well by hand.
BY the way. vigorous hand-rub-
bling by a healthy man is one of the
greatest helps to physical health. An
old English trainer once said: The |
bible, the good book, tells us as 'ow
folks in them hold days was cured O.
their sickness by the layin' on O lands.
| haint bit O. doubt O it. but it
wasn't done by just layin' the 'ands on.
but by good ard rubbing down wi
EN-"
Besides running long distances daily, |
and being bathed and rubbed. the old
time fighter had to spar with his train
er, and to fight the bag, swing dumb
bells, and in many other ways take
violent physical exercise. But it was
in his diet that h training differed
most from the modern system. Rich,
1t was thought that thorough cooking
destroyed the nutritious qualities of
meat. so he got his steak hardly more
than warmed by tho fire. Red rags"
was the slang name for it, and was
aptly descriptive. In Cribs day it
was served to him on a soup plate.
and for gravy he had a pnt of heavy
English ale. He got no pepper, salt,
or butter, no coffee or tea, and his
bread was stale and hard as a rock.
Occasionally he got a little mutton,
but red rags composed his steady
diet. 1t was early to bed and early to
rise with him. He was kept free from
worry or fret, and his long protracted
rigid regime often brought him to the
scratch tit to fight for kings life.
How severe this was may be inferred
from the fact that it was saying
among those who underwent it that
they would sooner fight two men than
train to fight one.
The fighters of to-day have a much
easier time of it, even when training,
as Jem Carney and Jimmy Mitchell
now are. to fight at an agreed on
weight. To begin with severe purga-
tives are no longer employed in the
preparatory publication of the system.
The physical exercises are more diver
sified and are not so severe, and spar
ring is seldom or never INDUCED in.
A man is presumed to know how to
fight when he is matched, and there is
so much danger of hurting hands or
arms in mimic conflicts that they are
carefully avoided. But it is in the diet
that the greatest change has been made.
In the first place, with the exception of
pastry. fats, and spices. almost any
thing that agrees with man is allow
ed him, and his food is thoroughly and
properly cooked. OF course he does
not get warm bread-that is unfit for
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